[]維基百科，自由的百科全書
本文內容主要是自然科學對人類起源與演化歷程的闡釋，關於宗教與信仰中對相同議題的觀念，詳見。
一位，他們是現代人類的近親，已滅絕。
現時及界一般認為，人類起源於。目前對現代人類的早期演化歷程主要有兩種理論，即和，19世紀時西方國家的家抱有觀念，大部分同意多地起源說，認為和其它人種起源不同，從根本上就處於一個優越的地位。20世紀的新發現、檢測技術發展和思想進步，導致大部分科學家同意單地起源說，但隨著新考古發現的不斷出現，有越來越多的科學家開始考察多地起源說。
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[]維基百科，自由的百科全書
這個分類下有1個子分類。
沒有任何子分類
「人類演化」分類中的條目。
這個分類中有6個條目。
[]維基百科，自由的百科全書
遺址是指活動的遺跡，屬於概念。遺址的特點表現為不完整的殘存物，具有一定的區域範圍，很多遺址、遠古遺址多深埋地表以下。埋藏地下的遺址的發現多與人類活動有關，如、工地施工等；很多古代遺址屬於發現。古代城市、古代建築遺址多為殘垣斷壁，各種生活用品表現為不殘破和不完整，但可以通過和人類學研究尋找人類生活軌跡。很多遺址屬於、之後的遺存。
遺址為，屬於。
人類在史前生活的遺存稱為「史前遺址」；
人類以後，年代久遠的遺存稱為「古代遺址」；
歷史年代不久遠的遺存多屬於具有特殊文化意義為紀念地。
用於命名整個史前文化的遺址，被稱作。
&&遺址是一個與相關的。你可以通過擴充其內容。
[]維基百科，自由的百科全書
本條目是介紹一個稱為露西的女性化石，也是（Charles
M. Schulz）創作的一個卡通人物。
露西骨骼化石
在中，露西（Lucy）是在發現的（）的的代稱。露西生活的年代是320萬年之前，因此被認為是第一個直立行走的人類，是目前所知人類的最早祖先。
，，和在的發現一具骨人類的化石。根據當時慶祝發現而播放的的一首歌《Lucy
in the Sky with Diamonds》將她命名為露西（Lucy）。 露西是一具40%完整的骨架，生前是一個20多歲的女性，根據骨盆情況推算生過孩子。露西的腦容量只有400毫升。
露西化石目前保存在的。
&&露西是一個與相關的。你可以通過擴充其內容。
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Olduvai Gorge, February 2006
Olduvai Gorge from space
Topography of Olduvai Gorge
The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is commonly referred to as
&The Cradle of Mankind.& It is a steep-sided
in the , which stretches along . Olduvai is in the eastern
in northern
and is about 30 miles long. The gorge is named after the
word for the wild sisal plant , commonly called Oldupaai.
It is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world and has been
instrumental in furthering understanding of early . Excavation work there was pioneered by
in the 1950s and continued into the twenty first century by
Professor Fidelis Masao of the Open University of Ta
there have also been teams from . Millions of years ago, the site was that of a large lake, the
shores of which were covered with successive deposits of volcanic ash. Around
500,000 years ago seismic activity diverted a nearby stream which began to cut
down into the ,
revealing seven main layers in the walls of the gorge.
is extremely deep and layers of volcanic ashes and stones allow
of the embedded artifacts, mostly through . The first
in Olduvai ( and )
date to circa 2 million years ago but
remains of human ancestors have been found from as long as 2.5 million years
The earliest archaeological deposit, known as Bed I, has produced evidence
of campsites and living floors along with
from local
Since this is the site where these kinds of tools were first discovered, these
tools are called .
It is now thought that the Oldowan toolmaking tradition started about 2.6
million years ago. Bones from this layer are not of modern humans but
and the first discovered specimens of .
The Olduvai Gorge bears the distinction of having the oldest known evidence
consumption, attributed to
around 1.8 million years ago.
Above this, in Bed II, pebble tools begin to be replaced by more
sophisticated
and made by . This layer dates to around 1.5 million years ago.
Beds III and IV have produced
tools and fossil bones from more than 600,000 years ago.
During a period of major faulting and volcanism roughly 400,000 to 600,000
years ago, the Masek Beds were made.
Beds above these contained tools from a
industry made by modern humans and are termed the Masek Beds (600,000 to
400,000 years ago), the Ndutu Beds (400,000 to 32,000 years ago), and the
Naisiusiu Beds (22,000 to 15,000 years ago).
Also located on the rim of the Gorge is the . This Museum presents exhibitions pertaining to the Gorge's
Olduvai is the location of the first
series of books.
Olduvai is also the theme of the , which states that industrial civilization will have a lifetime of
less than or equal to 100 years.
The variant &Oldupai& is the Maasai word for the wild Sisal plant
tha some claim the more common spelling &Olduvai&
is the result of a mis-hearing of the word by colonial visitors. The latter
spelling is not used locally.
Olduvai is the name of the
location in the .
Cole, Sonia (1975) Leakey’s Luck. Harcourt Brace Jovanvich, New
Joanne Christine Tactikos (2006) A landscape perspective on the
Oldowan from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. .
Leakey, L.S.B. (1974) By the evidence: Memoirs .
Harcourt Brace Jovanavich, New York, .
Leakey, M.D. (1971) Olduvai Gorge: Excavations in beds I & II
1960 – 1963. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Leakey, M.D. (1984) Disclosing the past. Doubleday & Co., New
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from )
The following charts give a brief overview of several notable
relating to . As there are thousands of fossils, this overview is not meant
to be complete, but does show some of the most important finds. The fossils
are arranged by approximate age as determined by
and/or . The species name represents current consensus, when there is no
clear scientific consensus the other possible classific
deprecated classifications may be found on the fossil's page. Not all the
fossils shown are considered direct ancestors to
but are very closely related to direct ancestors and are
therefore important to the study of the lineage.
discovered
Discovered by
D. Pilbeam and S. M. Ibrahim Shah
discovered
Discovered by
3.6 - 3.8 mya
3 - 3.2 mya
3 - 3.2 mya
November 1973
November 30, 1974
discovered
Discovered by
2.6 - 2.8 mya
2.6-2.8 mya
Gert Terblanche
discovered
Discovered by
Peter Nzube
Bernard Ngeneo
1.5 - 2 mya
sensu Lato
unclassified
see Grine et al. 1996
1.5 - 2 mya
sensu Lato
unclassified
see Grine et al. 1996
1.5 - 2 mya
1.4 - 1.6 mya
discovered
Discovered by
0.7-1.6 mya
.7 - 1 mya
C. Arsmbourg
S. Sartono
250 - 500k
125k - 300k
Tom Zwiglaar
1997 - 2003
circa 1991
circa 1991
circa 1991
after 1991
discovered
Discovered by
125 ky -75 ky
1960 onwards
T. McCown and H. Moivus, Jr.
T. McCown and H. Moivus, Jr.
T. McCown and H. Moivus, Jr.
September 17, 1909
R. Capitan and D. Peyrony
Prof. Blanc
August 3, 1908
A. and J. Bouyssonie and L. Bardon
discovered
Discovered by
92k - 115k or 30k - 55k
4.9k - 11.8k
(between Austria and Italy)
Helmut and Erika Simon
1.5k - 3.5k
&1500 years
300 - 400 years
AL - Afar Locality, Ethiopia
ARA-VP - Aramis Vertebrate Paleontology, Ethiopia
BOU-VP - Bouri Vertebrate Paleontology, Ethiopia
ER - East (Lake) Rudolf, Kenya
KGA - Konso-Gardula, Ethiopia
KNM - Kenya National Museum
KP - Kanapoi, Kenya
OH - Olduvai Hominid, Tanzania
SK - Swartkrans, South Africa
Sts,Stw - Sterkfontein, South Africa
TM - Transvaal Museum, South Africa
TM - Toros-Menalla, Chad
WT - West (Lake) Turkana, Kenya
Tattersall, Ian, Schwartz,
Jeffery (2000). Extinct Humans. Westview Press, Boulder CO. .
Larsen, Clark Spencer,
Matter, Robert M, Gebo, Daniel L (1991). Human Origins: the fossil
record. Waveland Press, Prospect Heights, IL. .
. Retrieved on -.
. Retrieved on -.
Grine, F.E, Jungers, W.L, Schultz, J. (1996) Phenetic Affinities Among
Early Homo Crania from East and South Africa. Journal of Human
Evolution 30 pp.189-225
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For an explanation of very similar terms, see .
Hominini is the
that only includes
(Pan), and their
ancestors. Members of the tribe are called hominins (cf. ,
is the &human& branch, including genus Homo and its close
relatives, but not Pan.
The creation of this taxon is the result of the current idea that the least
similar species of a
should be separated from the other two. Through
comparison, scientists believe the Pan/Homo divergence was completed
between 5.4 to 6.3 million years ago, after an unusual process of
that ranged over four million years.
It is interesting to note that no fossil species on the Pan side of the
all of the extinct genera listed to the right are
ancestral to Homo, or are offshoots of such. However, both
existed around the time of the split, and so may be ancestral to both humans
and chimpanzees.
In the proposal of Mann and Weiss (1996),
the tribe Hominini includes Pan as well as Homo as
separate subtribes. Homo (and, by inference, all bipedal apes) is by
itself only in the subtribe ,
while Pan is in the Panina subtribe.
Hominoid family tree
has information related to:
Retrieved on -.
Alan and Mark Weiss (1996). &Hominoid Phylogeny and Taxonomy: a
consideration of the molecular and Fossil Evidence in an Historical
Perspective&. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 5
(1): 169-181.
This -related
article is a .
You can help Wikipedia by .
&•&&•&
&· &· &· &· &· &· &· &· &·
&· &· &· &· &· &· &· &· &· &·
&· &· &· &· &· &· &·
&· &· &· &· &· &·
根據20世紀後半期的發現，人類單地起源說認為全世界的都起源於的纖細型的一個群體。
早期人類發源於，他們跨越，抵達及。
至此遷移路線分三路，一部份人類走北路。經與遷移到（橘色圓圈）及。的人類再由海路經、遷移到的。
另一部份則走中路。經過、遷移到。再分數枝，分別遷移到、及。
其中西伯利亞高原的人類又經（後來的）遷移到的並深入（藍色圓圈）。
的人類經遷移到。
的人類再走向遷移到。
最後一支走南線。沿著海岸線，由通過遷移到（紅色圓圈），沿海岸線抵達及，再由及遷移到、、（紅色圓圈）及島嶼。之後有一支人類再西行遷移到。這些人類被稱。
人類遷移到後經由、遷移到。最後到達為止。
現代幾個國家科學家通過檢測手段，也部分證實人類起源於同一群體。
目前研究最有力的學科是新近產生的。由於人類中的與都是通過直系親屬直接遺傳下來的，其間只有發生很小的變動。所以通過分析與粒線體出現的分部與時間，就可以比較可靠的推出於的路線。
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from )
Map of early
according to
the recent single-origin hypothesis (RSOH, or Out-of-Africa
model, or Replacement Hypothesis) is one of two accounts of the
origin of anatomically modern humans, . According to the RSOH, anatomically modern humans evolved in
between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, with members of one branch leaving
Africa between 55,000 and 60,000 years ago.
These emigrants spread to the rest of the ,
replacing (and not interbreeding with) other Homo species already
there, such as
The hypothesis is derived from research in several disciplines, chiefly
genetics, archaeology and linguistics.
Currently available
and archaeological evidence is generally interpreted as supportive of a recent
single origin of modern humans in .
The alternative theory is the , including the
was one of the first to suggest that all humans had a common
ancestor who lived in Africa. In the
he writes:
each great region of the world the living
are closely related to the extinct species of the same region. It is,
therefore, probable that Africa was formerly inhabited by extinct apes
closely allied to the
and as these two species are now man's nearest allies, it is somewhat
more probable that our early progenitors lived on the African
continent than elsewhere.
The prediction was highly insightful because at the time, in 1871, there
were hardly any human fossils of ancient hominids available. Almost fifty
years later Darwin was vindicated, as anthropologists began finding numerous
fossils of ancient hominids all over Africa ().
evolved in Africa 2 million years ago and is considered the first
species of the genus .
A descendent of Homo habilis known as
or &upright man& is thought to be the first hominid to
migrate out of Africa at least 1.5 million years ago. Erectus is believed to
have left Africa during the warm periods between ice ages. An occasional
phenomenon known as the , during which the
receives significant rainfall, allows
to penetrate the otherwise arid . It is believed that during one such period some Homo erectus
migrated out to ultimately spread all over Europe and Asia and dominate the
world for the next 1 million years. Fossils of homo erectus include
Then, following a severe
350,000 years ago, another large brained hominid,
appeared on the African stage. Some of these hominids
migrated to Europe and evolved into the .
The Neanderthals occupied Europe until approximately 30,000 years ago when
they became extinct. Some scientists propose that the Neanderthals were
displaced and possibly wiped out by encroaching modern humans. While some
researchers have found evidence which suggests that neanderthalensis
had vocal capabilities similar to, or possibly exceeding that of, modern
others conclude that although they may have possessed some form of speech,
their phonetic abilities were limited relative to anatomically modern Homo
sapiens from the same time period. Furthermore, evidence that Neanderthal tool
culture was simple and relatively static suggests that Neanderthal language
was less developed than that of modern humans and that this might have played
a role in their demise. Stone technology remained relatively unchanged and
unsophisticated for millions of years during the periods of erectus and the
Neanderthals.
Scientists believe modern humans first appeared in Africa less than 200,000
years ago. One of the reasons they believe this is that the oldest known
remains of modern humans have been found in Africa and nowhere else. The
found near the Omo river in Ethiopia have been dated to 130,000 -
195,000 years ago and are the oldest fossil evidence of anatomically modern
Humans did attempt on one occasion to leave Africa through the . Fossils of modern humans were found in a cave in
have been dated to 100,000 years ago. However these humans seem to have either
gone extinct or retreated back to Africa 80,000 - 70,000 years ago, possibly
replaced by south bound Neanderthals escaping the colder regions of ice age
All other fossils of fully modern humans outside of Africa have been dated
to more recent times. The next oldest fossil of modern humans outside of
Africa are those of
found in Australia and have been dated to about 42,000 years ago.
Though fossil remains of modern humans appear about 200,000 years ago,
significant changes in technology do not appear until much later. Early humans
apparently continued to use the same technology of the Neanderthals. Beginning
about 100,000 years ago evidence of more sophisticated technology and artwork
begins to emerge and by 50,000 years ago fully
becomes more prominent. By this time the ritual burying of the
dead is noted. Stone tools show regular patterns that are reproduced or
duplicated with more precision. Tools made of bone and antler appear for the
first time.
These new changes are suggestive of more advanced behaviour and scientists
attribute these changes to the development of language. The new stone tool
types have been described as being distinctly differentiated from each other
as if each tool had a specific name. This period is referred to as the . For the first time in the fossil record evidence of fishing
indisputably appears in Africa at 50,000 years ago. Homo erectus and the
Neanderthals lived alongside oceans, rivers and lakes but never ate fish.
Archaeological coastal sites that are dated to before 50,000 years contain no
fish bones whereas those dated to after 50,000 do contain fish bones. This
also serves as evidence for significant change in human behaviour at the
50,000 year mark.
are the key elements shared by all groups of people throughout
the history of man. Examples of elements that may be considered cultural
universals are ,
These traits distinguish
from other species. David Buller hypothesizes that some cultural
universals may in fact be cultural
that originate from a common human ancestry. writes:
Yet the ancestral population, even if generally inclined to
aggression, presumable possessed all the major elements of human behavior
that occur in descendant populations around the world, since otherwise all
of these behaviors would have had to evolve or be invented independently
in each of thousands of societies
Whatever the genesis of these universals, the fact that they are
found in societies throughout the world suggests strongly that they would
have been possessed by the ancestral human population before its
dispersal.
Main article:
There is considerable debate regarding when modern human language first
came into existence. Much of the debate centers on whether modern language
arose suddenly with anatomically modern humans or whether language developed
gradually over millions of years with all archaic hominids. Those in favor of
the &sudden occurrence& of language argue that the first
indisputable signs of symbolism such as ,
which are associated with language, occur in the fossil record 50,000 BP, and
become significantly more abundant thereafter. They contend that language was
a necessary prerequisite for modern humans to leave Africa and reach
continents such as ,
that had never before been populated by Archaic hominids. Since all these
major historic events appear to take place around the 50,000 year mark,
scholars believe this is when language suddenly arose, with some suggesting
that it may have required some biological change such as a mutation affecting
the brain.
Other schools of thought disagree with the sudden emergence of language.
They argue that since only a few materials such as bone and stone fossilize,
the lives of archaic hominids may have involved the use of several materials
that do not fossilize, such as wood or bark. Hence it would be impossible to
concretely ascribe a date to the first symbolism. In addition a few fossils
that appear to be symbolic have been controversially dated to much earlier
than 50,000 BP. These include the
from the Congo, dated to 100,000 years ago and engravings
found on red ochre dated to 75,000 years ago from
cave in South Africa. This would indicate that language may have arisen much
earlier. However these findings are disputed with some arguing that they are
simply anomalies in the fossil record.
Since the human line branched off from the common ancestor shared with
chimpanzees six million years ago, the human vocal tract has been evolving.
Hence some scholars argue that it must have been evolving for a reason. If the
Neanderthals possessed a near modern if not fully modern vocal tract, then it
would only make sense that it must have evolved for them to use some sort of
speech. However critics once again point to the Neanderthal stone tool kit,
that remained relatively unchanged and unsophisticated from millions of years
According to this hypothesis a small group of humans living in
migrated north east, possibly searching for food or escaping
climate changes, crossing the
and in the process going on to populate the rest of the world. Around
50,000 years ago the world was entering the last ice age and sea levels were
much lower as water was trapped in the polar ice caps. Today at the Gate of
Grief the Red Sea is about 12 miles (20 kilometres) wide but 50,000 years ago
it was much narrower and sea levels were 70 meters lower. Though the straits
were never completely closed, there may have been islands in between which
could be reached using simple rafts. Shell
125,000 years old have been found in
indicating the diet of early humans was sea food obtained by .
This is perceived to be evidence that humans may have crossed the Red Sea in
search of new food sources available on uninhabited beaches.
Genetic evidence points to a single exodus of a small group of people with
some estimating as few as 150 people.[] From this small group descended all non-African
people. Once in Asia they spread generation by generation around the coast of
they reached
which appears to be the first important settling point. Once in India the
populations split, One group ventured inland northwest towards Europe and
would eventually go on to displace the Neanderthals. The other group headed
along the southeast coast of Asia reaching Australia between 70,000 and 30,000
years ago, with most estimates placing it as occurring about 46,000 to 41,000
years ago.
The map shows the probable extent of land and water at the time of the
last glacial maximum and when the sea level was probably more than 150m
lower than today
During that time the sea levels were much lower and most of
was one land mass known as the lost continent of .
The settlers would have continued on the coastal route southeast until they
reached the channel between Sunda and ,
the continental land mass that comprised present day Australia and . This channel is also known as the . The Channel was 90 km wide, indicating that settlers must have had
knowledge of seafaring skills in order to reach Australia. Archaic humans such
as Homo erectus never reached Australia.
If these dates are correct it would mean that Australia was populated
before Europe by up to 10,000 years. This is possibly because humans avoided
the colder regions of the North favoring the warmer tropical regions, possibly
lacking technology to survive the cold. Another piece of evidence favoring
human occupation in Australia is that by 46,000 years ago all large mammals
weighing more than 100 kg had suddenly become extinct. The new settlers are
the likely suspects of this extinction. Many of the animals may have been
accustomed to living without predators and become docile and vulnerable to
While some settlers crossed into Australia others may have continued
eastwards along the coast of Sunda eventually turning northeast to
and finally reaching ,
leaving a trail of coastal settlements. This coastal migration leaves its
trail in the
descended from , and in
. Thereafter it may have become necessary to venture inland possibly
bringing modern humans into contact with archaics such as erectus. Recent
genetic studies suggest that Australia and New Guinea were populated by one
single migration from Asia as opposed to several waves. The land bridge
separating New Guinea and Australia became submerged approximately 8,000 years
ago, thus isolating the respective populations of the two land masses.
Europe is thought to have been colonized by northwest bound migrants from
India and the Middle East. The expansion from India is thought to have begun
45,000 years ago and may have taken up to 15,000 years for Europe to be fully
colonized.
During this time the Neanderthals were slowly being displaced. Because it took
so long for Europe to be overrun, it appears that humans and Neanderthals may
have been constantly competing for territory. The Neanderthals were larger and
had a more robust or heavy built frame which may suggest that they were
physically stronger than modern homo sapiens. Having lived in Europe for
200,000 years they would have been better adapted to the cold weather. The
Anatomically Modern Humans, known as the ,
however, with superior technology and language would eventually completely
displace the Neanderthals whose last refuge was in the . After about 30,000 years ago the fossil record of the
Neanderthals ends, indicating that they had become extinct. The last known
population lived around a cave system on the remote south facing coast of
from 30,000 to 24,000 years ago.
Multiregionalists have long believed that Europeans were descended from
Neanderthals and not from humans from .
Others believed the Neanderthals had interbred with modern humans. In 1997
researchers managed to extract mitochondrial DNA from a 40,000 year old
specimen of a Neanderthal. On comparison with human DNA, its sequences
differed significantly, indicating that based on the mitochondrial DNA, modern
Europeans are not descended from the Neanderthals and that no interbreeding
took place.
Some scientists continue to search autosomal DNA for traces of Neanderthal
admixture.
A few alleles of some autosomal genes such as the H2 allele of the MAPT gene
have been suggested, since they were only found among Europeans. However in
the absence of autosomal DNA from a Neanderthal, the scientists conclude that
this hypothesis is entirely speculative.
Some archaeologists doubt that Neanderthals and homo sapiens were
interfertile. This is because Neanderthals and Europeans shared the same
habitat for up to 20,000 years yet no undisputed skeletal fossils have been
found so far that show intermediate properties between the two hominids.
Further information:
The Americas were occupied by Asian people who crossed from
At the time sea levels were lower and a land bridge of the lost continent of
connected North America to .
It is likely they used the southern route that may have been much warmer.
There is considerable controversy over when the
were first colonized and how many migrations there were. Controversial
findings in
may indicate a human presence in the Americas by up to 33,000 years
ago. The oldest indisputable evidence of human presence in the Americas are,
however, findings related to the , which have been dated to about 11,000 years ago. The findings of
indicate the early settlers hunted large animals. About the same
time as the arrival of the clovis culture many large animals such as Mammoths
became extinct (as in Australia, possibly due to hunting).
controversially classified American languages into three major
families. The
spoken by the Inuit peoples. The
are 32 languages spoken only in North America by the ,
Navajo and tribes in Alaska and Canada. Finally
comprise more than 500 languages spoken in North and South
America. Greenberg suggested that these three languages families represented
three separate migrations that filled the Americas in the order they arrived.
Up until recently the only way of learning about ancient ancestors was
through old fossils and stone tools. As we travel further back in time fossils
become more rare. Of the billions of people who lived before the invention of
agriculture only the fossilized remains of a few hundred have been found. In
the absence of fossils, human DNA that transmits genetic information from one
generation to the next has proved to be a valuable tool in recording the
evolution of the human species.
Two pieces of the human genome are particularly useful in deciphering human
history. One is the
and the other is the . These are the only two parts of the genome that are not
shuffled about by the evolutionary mechanisms designed to generate diversity
with each generation. Hence the Mitochondrial DNA and the Y chromosome are
passed down generation to generation intact. All 6.5 billion people alive
today have inherited the same Mitochondria from one woman who lived in Africa
about 150,000 she has been named . All men today have inherited their Y chromosomes from a man who lived
60,000 years ago, probably in Africa. He has been named .
Main article:
chromosomal swap
The Human Genome is comprised of 3.1 billion base DNA base pairs packed in
the chromosomes located in the Nucleus. Each person has 23 pairs of
chromosomes. In each pair one chromosome is descended from the sperm cell of
the father and the other chromosome is descended from the mother's egg. When
an adult organism begins to produce sperm or egg cells these two chromosome
line up against each other and exchange pieces of DNA with each other in a
process known as .
Main article:
Mitochondria are components found in the cell outside the nucleus that
provide energy to the cell. They are believed to have originally been free
bacteria that became incorporated into the cells of organisms billions of
years ago. This is because the mitochondria have their own strand of DNA in a
loop similar to those of bacteria. As the mitochondria are located outside the
nucleus they do not participate in the shuffling of DNA that occurs during
reproduction. When the sperm fuses with an egg cell during fertilization, the
sperm's mitochondria are destroyed, leaving only the egg cell's mitochondria
in the new fertilized .
This process only passes down the mother's mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to the
next generation. All people have their mother's mtDNA but not their father's.
Thus, a family tree of humanity based on the maternal line can be drawn,
whereby the tree eventually coalesces on one female, and that person is .
The DNA in mitochondria is relatively short with only 16,569 base pairs.
Thus it is much easier to study than the rest of the genome. When a woman's
mitochondria are copied and packed into an egg cell, the DNA is almost always
the same. However, every once in a while a mutation takes place which alters
the sequence of the DNA strand. If Mitochondrial Eve had two daughters, one of
whom happened to have a mutation in her Mitochondrial DNA, then all the women
alive today descended from that daughter would share that mutation. All the
women descended from the other daughter would not. Thus mutations in mtDNA are
useful in determining lineages and migratory patterns.
Further information:
The pair of
are unlike the other 22 pairs of chromosomes. The X and Y
chromosomes do not exchange segments of their DNA (except at the very tips).
All other pairs of chromosomes are virtually identical in size and number of
genes and hence compatible to exchange segments. The Y chromosome is
significantly smaller than the X and thus incompatible for large scale
shuffling. This process is necessary to ensure that the Y's most important
gene, the one responsible for making a person male, is not transferred to the
X chromosome, which is responsible for making a person female.
It follows that the Y chromosome is passed down largely intact from fathers
to sons through the generations. Just as with mtDNA, mutations in the
Y-chromosome make a fork in the family tree and can be used to study lineages.
The genome of the Y chromosome is much larger (58 million base pairs) than
that of mtDNA and initially mutations in it were much harder to find. More
recently the mapping of the Y has been completed. All men today have inherted
the Y-chromosome of
who may have lived 60,000 years ago in Africa. Comparing the profile
of the Y chromosome with that of the mtDNA of a population may give useful
hints about differences in ancient migratory patterns of men and women.
Main article:
The molecular clock is a technique in genetics used to estimate when
populations diverged. When comparing the mtDNA sequences of two populations,
researchers can target mutations that are present in one population and absent
in the other. The more mutations that differentiate the sequences, the longer
the populations have been separated. The assumption is that mutations are
random events that oc for example, in humans it is
sometimes estimated that a mutation takes place every 10,000 years. Thus, if
mtDNA sequences of two populations differ by 5 nucleotides, it can be inferred
that the two populations split from a common ancestral population 50,000 years
The clock can be calibrated by using a references pair of groups of living
species whose date of speciation was already known from the fossil record.
The molecular clock is a statistical analysis based on many assumptions and
hence its accuracy is sometimes questioned. However, studies do show some
consistency with fossil records. For example, Mitochondrial Eve is calculated
to have lived about 150,000 years ago. This is consistent with the emergence
of anatomically modern humans based on fossil evidence. Furthermore, the dates
calculated based on the Y-chromosome are in general agreement with those for
mitochondrial DNA. This is a useful comparison because Y and mtDNA are
inherited independently and they have different mutation rates.
In formulating the single origin hypothesis, scientists focussed their
research on many indigenous groups. This is because these groups have lived in
the same location for thousands of years. Since many indigenous groups have
remained relatively isolated from the later immigrant populations they live
with, their genetics may be the least influenced by the effects of long
distance migration. Their genetic makeup would thus be the best available
representation of the early settlers in a region.
are languages that have no known historical or linguistic
relationship to any other languages. They are useful to anthropologists in
identifying groups that may have a more distinctive history. The
has confounded linguists because it is one of the only languages in Europe
that doesn't belong to the
family. The language of the
in Japan is also another isolate. So is ,
the language spoken near the Pamirs in the Himalayas. The
are also of interest because of the use of the . The
also uses the click consonant but appears to be unrelated to the Khoisan
languages. There are several isolates among the indigenous languages of
Of particular interest are the so called
who are the indigenous people of the . It is believed that they were isolated on the islands perhaps
thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago due to rising sea levels.
They were once thought to be related to African pygmies because of their short
stature, however they are genetically more linked to the surrounding Asian
populations . Their language is also unique and linguists have all but failed
to find a connection to any of the world's major language families. A related
group, the ,
have resisted all attempts to be contacted and almost nothing is known about
them. This suggests that these groups have been genetically isolated for long
periods and may have been part of the first group of people to settle in Asia.
of Major mtDNA lineages
When researchers first began studying the mtDNA peoples around the world in
1987 they found that the greatest diversity of lineages was found in Africa.
Of the 33 maternal clans of the world, 13 were in Africa. Though Africa had
13% of the worlds population it had 40% of the world's deeper mitochondrial
lineages. This indicated that Africa had more time to accumulate mutations
than the rest of the world. As a rule of thumb for any species, the region of
greatest diversity is very likely the region of origin.
Scientists were then able to construct the genetic relationships between
the various mitochondrial haplogroups and build a . One by one they found the African and also all non-African
mitochondrial lineages converged on a single root, and this mitochondrial
ancestor was named . They then identified a single African mitochondrial lineage,
haplogroup L3e, that was the single root for all the mitochondrial lineages
found outside Africa. This evidence indicated that the human family arose as
one single genetic line in Africa within the last 200,000 years and not as
multiple lineages in separate locations.
Eve was not the only woman alive at the time but only her line of descent
remains unbroken today in all humans. Some scientists believe that the human
family faced near extinction in the last 100,000 years due to some
catastrophic event (see ). The human population may have dwindled to as few as
2,000 people, causing the lineages of other women to die out leaving only
those of Eve's to dominate. This process has been described as the .
Further information:
One model of human migration based on Mitochondrial DNA
It is widely accepted that humans first arose in Africa and later colonized
the rest of the world. However, the timing of the exit out of Africa and the
routes taken remain controversial. Owing to the time frame, the patterns of
migration are very complex and scientists are likely to continue making
revisions and adjustments to existing theories as further studies yield new
information.
The first lineage to branch off from Eve is .
This haplogroup is found in high proportions among the
These groups branched off early in human history and have remained relatively
isolated genetically since.
are descendents of L1 and are largely confined to Africa. The macro
haplogroups
which are the lineages of the rest of the world outside Africa, descended from
Some scientists believe that only a few people left Africa in a single
migration that went on to populate the rest of the world. It has been
estimated that from a population of 2,000 - 5,000 in Africa, only a small
group of possibly 150 people crossed the Red Sea. This is because, of all the
lineages present in Africa, only the daughters of one lineage, L3, are found
outside Africa. Had there been several migrations one would expect more than
one African lineage outside Africa. L3's daughters, the M and N lineages, are
found in very low frequencies in Africa and appear to be recent arrivals. A
possible explanation is that these mutations occurred in East Africa shortly
before the exodus and by the
became the dominant haplogroups after the exodus from Africa.
Alternatively, the mutations may have arisen shortly after the exodus from
Single origin from Africa but with multiple dispersals out of Africa of
Other scientists propose that there were two migrations out of Africa, one
across the Red Sea travelling along the coastal regions to India, which would
be represented by Haplogroup M. Another group of migrants with Haplogroup N
followed the Nile from East Africa, heading northwards and crossing into
through the .
This group then branched in several directions, some moving into Europe and
others heading east into Asia. This hypothesis attempts to explain why
Haplogroup N is predominant in Europe and why Haplogroup M is absent in
The group that crossed the Red Sea travelled along the coastal route around
the coast of Arabia and Iran until reaching India, which appears to be the
first major settling point. M is found in high frequencies along the southern
coastal regions of
and India and it has the greatest diversity in India, indicating that it is
here where the mutation may have occurred.
60% of the Indian population belong to Haplogroup M. The indigenous people of
also belong to the M lineage. The Andamanese are thought to be
offshoots of some of the earliest inhabitants in Asia because of their long
isolation from mainland Asia. They are evidence of the coastal route of early
settlers that extends from India along the coasts of
and Indonesia all the way to . Since M is found in high frequencies in highlanders from New
Guinea as well, and both the Andamanese and New Guineans have dark skin and
frizzy hair typically found in Africa, some scientists believe they are all
part of the same wave of migrants who departed across the Red Sea. Others
suggest that their physical resemblance to Africans is more likely to be an
example of .
to India the proportion of haplogroup M increases eastwards: in
eastern India, M outnumbers N by a ratio of 3:1. However, crossing over into
East Asia, Haplogroup N reappears as the dominant lineage. M is predominant in
South East Asia but amongst
N reemerges as the more common lineage. This discontinuous
distribution of Haplogroup N from Europe to Australia has confounded
scientists attempting to trace migratory routes.
The descendents of Haplogroups M and N are both found in the Americas.
There is considerable speculation on the physical appearance of ancient
homo sapiens during the period of Mitochondrial Eve and prior to exodus from
Africa. The reason for this is that all variation in human physical appearance
visible in today's people around the world is theorized by some scientists to
have come from this small population in Africa.
Hairiness is the default state of most mammals, though a few have lost much
of their hair for a variety of reasons. They include many
such as dolphins and hippopotami, the
and humans. Most non-human primates have lightly pigmented skin
covered by fur. Scientists believe that early protohominids resembled our
closest relative, the ,
with white skin covered by dark hair. The hominids began to walk upright and
left the shade of the trees for the open savannah and therefore required a
more efficient cooling system. The brain uses significant amounts of energy
but is very sensitive to heat, so the increased brain power of the early
hominids also required a finer
system. As a result humans evolved more sweat glands, especially on the face,
which required the loss of hair for more effective evaporation. Sexual
selection by a preference for naked skin may have played a secondary role as
well. Though naked skin is advantageous for thermoregulation, it exposes the
epidermis to destructive levels of UV radiation that can cause sunburn, skin
cancer and birth defects resulting from the destruction of the essential
vitamin B folate. To protect the epidermis natural selection favored increased
levels of melanin in the skin.
The general consensus among scholars is therefore that the first modern
humans would have been dark skinned. When humans migrated to less sun
intensive regions in the north, the dark skin that was adapted to blocking out
much of the
in the tropics would block even the minimum amount of radiation
required for cells under the skin to produce . This is essential for bone growth, as deficiencies in vitamin D cause .
Thus skin color would revert back to its default form present before the
process of hair loss began, but this time without the hair. Whilst the timing
of this change from dark to light skin has not yet been established it is
possible that the early settlers of Europe and Asia were dark skinned.
Aside from skin color however, which despite the above could also arguably be
included, the majority of apparent difference in human physical appearance
around the world, or what may also be called
features, can also be explained through the process of regional
of relatively recent evolutionary origin.
Main article:
The multi-regional hypothesis consists of several models of human evolution
which all posit that the human races evolved from separate archaic humans over
millions of years. The Multiregional theory is based largely on archaeological
and fossil evidence. Proponents of the Multiregional theory argue that
physical similarities between modern and archaic humans, such as the brow
ridges and comparatively robust skeletons of some modern Europeans (as
compared to Neanderthals), and the shovel-shaped incisors and other distinct
craniofacial features noted in modern Chinese (as compared with Chinese homo
erectus), could only be the result of genetic contributions from earlier
lineages that evolved semi-independently. Opponents, however, cite the lack of
DNA evidence supporting these theories.
There are several models of multiregionalism that depend largely on whether
gene flow between the populations took place.
is a more extreme form multiregionalism in that it implies separate origins
for the human races. Proponents include
who hypothesized that modern humans, Homo sapiens, arose five
separate times from
in five separate places. Their descendents are the major
Polygenists such as
believed in the existence of pure races.
theory states that significant gene exchange did take place between widely
divergent hominid species, or subspecies, that were geographically dispersed
throughout Africa, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. According to
this theory the resulting hybrid 'Homo sapiens sapiens', was superior to both
its ancestors due to what is commonly termed . They argue that very strong genetic similarities among all humans
do not prove recent common ancestry, but rather reflect the interconnectedness
of human populations around the world, resulting in relatively constant gene
flow (Thorne and Wolpoff 1992).
Aspects of multiregionalism has been criticized as not being based on
objective scientific observation. Some critics even argue that
multiregionalism may be motivated by ethnocentrism and is meant to instill
beliefs of purity of lineage.
Multiregionalists have long claimed that modern Europeans are descended
from the Neanderthals. In 1997, DNA testing performed on a Neanderthal
skeleton showed modern humans and Neanderthals last shared a common ancestor
between 500,000 and 800,000 years ago, and furthermore that all modern humans,
from the ethnic Siberians to the
of Africa, are more closely related to each other than to the
Neanderthals -- further evidence supporting the Out-of-Africa theory.
Another example is the case of , a fossil skull of
found in China dating to possibly 400,000 years. Some
Paleoanthropoligists in China have asserted that the modern Chinese are
descendents of earlier forms of humans such as Peking Man. However, Chinese
geneticists performed
analysis on the Chinese population in 1998 and discovered genetic similarities
with Africans, yielding the first evidence that the Chinese descended from
A recent study undertaken by
showed no inter-breeding between modern human immigrants to East Asia
and Homo erectus, contradicting the Peking Man-origin hypothesis and affirming
that the Chinese descended from Africans.
In 2001, Chinese geneticists analyzed Y chromosomes in Chinese people and
concluded that all Chinese samples contained a mutated gene M168G which is a
marker believed to have appeared in the last 79,000 years on a number of
The fossil record also favors a single origin. This is because mainly in
Africa is there a sensible progression of fossils over the last 3 million
years that shows the various intermediate stages of evolution from the most
archaic ancestors to modern man.
Hua Liu, et al. . The American Journal of Human Genetics, volume 79 (2006),
pages 230–237.
F. Kay, Matt Cartmill, and Michelle Balow (April 1998). &The
hypoglossal canal and the origin of human vocal behavior&.
David (2005). .
PMIT Press, pages 467-468. .
Nicholas ((2006)). Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of
Our Ancestors, pages65-66. .
Kate Ravilious. . National Geographic
News. May 7, 2007.
New York: Harper Perennial. .
Jackson Jr., John P. (2001). &InWays Unacademical&: The
Reception of Carleton S. Coon's The Origin of Races]
大地 2001 No.20, available at . (Chinese)
Cavalli-Sforza,
and Francesco Cavalli-Sforza, The Great Human Diasporas –
The History of Diversity and Evolution (Italian original Chi Siamo:
La Storia della Diversit`a Umana),
(paperback), 1993.
Crow, Tim J, Editor The Speciation of Modern Homo Sapiens,
(paperback) 2002.
Foley, Robert, Humans Before Humanity,
(paperback), 1995.
Olsen, Steve, Mapping Human History: Discovering the past through our
Oppenheimer, Stephen, The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey Out of
(Hardcover), 2003.
Stringer, Chris and Robin McKie, African Exodus,
(paperback), 1996.
Sykes, Brian, : The Science That Reveals Our Genetic Ancestry
Wade, Nicholas, Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our
Ancestors (2006)
Wells, Spencer, The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey (2003)
Wells, Spencer, Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project
Daily, July 19, 2007, retrieved July 19, 2007
Underhill et al. (2001). &The phylogeography of Y chromosome binary
haplotypes and the origins of modern human populations& Ann. Hum.
Genet. 65: 43-62. .
Retrieved 25 July 2007.
Long and Kittles (2003). &Human genetic variation and the
nonexistence of human races& Human Biology, 75:
449-471. .
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Risch, N., Burchard, E., Ziv, E. and
Tang, H. (2002). &&. Genome
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S27 (2004) :
[]維基百科，自由的百科全書
此條目仍有文字未被翻譯成中文，條目是根據其他語言維基百科的內容進行的。（日）
歡迎您協助翻譯與校對以。
長期閒置的非中文內容可能會被移除。
在中，多地起源說是兩種主要的的假說之一，另一種為。不過以來在基因學上的證據較支持單地起源說。但仍有一定數量的學者支持多地起源說。
此名詞最早是由密西根大學教授沃波夫（Milford
H. Wolpoff）所使用。該假說認為：在150萬年前人類的祖先（：Homo
ergaster，或：Homo
erectus）離開非洲後，便開始在世界各地獨自演化，包括、和等，並適應當地的環境。根據沃波夫的說法，世界各地的人類同時平行演化成今天的現代人。不同地區的人類由於地理隔絕因此往不同的方向演化；但另一方面，、取代和等其他複雜的因素使現代人往大約一致的方向演化。
最終，一些地方上人類的多樣性被取代消失，使得今日的現代人雖保有一些地方特徵，但共有更多的相似處。
1930年代德國人類學家(Franz
Weidenreich)
在研究北京人時認為，北京人和現代亞洲人有很多相似特徵。根據魏敦瑞的說法：人類的種族是由各地的古代直立人獨自演化為今天的；與此同時，基因流動發生在不同的人類之間。魏敦瑞認為：一般適應的基因(如智力和溝通能力)從世界的某處到其他地方流動較快，而地方適應的基因則流動較慢。
美國人類學家(Carleton
便有類似多地起源說的理論。庫恩認為現代人是由五種不同的人類平行演化而來
(、、、和)。庫恩又認為一些種族比其他種族要早演化進入現代人的階段，導致一些人類的文明要進步於其他文明。他認為：和要優越於其他人種。
該理論在中期非常不受歡迎，被認為有正當化之嫌，庫恩因此被迫辭去會長的職務。
更新世時的人種分佈，
根據Carleton S. Coon .
更新世後的人種分佈，
根據Carleton S. Coon .
Studies on past population bottlenecks that can be inferred from molecular
data have led Multiregionalists to conclude that the recent single-origin
hypothesis is untenable because there are no population size bottlenecks
affecting all genes that are more recent than the one at the beginning of the
species, some 2 million years ago. Multiregionalists claimed that the
discovery of a possible hybrid Homo sapiens X neanderthalensis fossil child at
the Abrigo do Lagar Velho rock-shelter site in Portugal in 1999 further
supports the Multiregional hypothesis, by reflecting the inter-mixture of
diverse human populations. Other archaeologists dispute this: &the
analysis by Duarte et al. of the Lagar Velho child's skeleton is a brave and
imaginative interpretation, of which it is unlikely that a majority of
paleoanthropologists will consider proven.& [1]
Proponents of the multiregional hypothesis point to a recent Australian
study of an ancient Aboriginal skeleton known as Mungo Man. Genetic tests show
the mitochondrial DNA of Mungo Man to be from a mtDNA lineage with no
descendants today. Yet Mungo man is an anatomically modern human and has been
dated to be at least 40,000 years old. These proponents interpret the study to
mean that mtDNA does not reflect ancestry or divergence times, and this
interpretation is supported by the discovery that the gene is subject to
natural selection.
A recent, non-fossilized discovery of one metre-tall, small-brained (350
cc), Homo floresiensis, on the Indonesian island of Flores, might imply
populations of Homo erectus survived very late, and gave rise to even later,
physically dwarfed isolated &erectus& groups. However, this
possibility does not address the Multiregional hypothesis, which is only about
the human species, and the evidence is marred by the possibility that the
single dwarf cranium found on Flores might have been pathological.
Proponents of the Hybrid-origin hypothesis point to the study Research on
the X chromosome and interpret it to give genetic evidence for inter-breeding
between Humans and other hominids.
Besides Milford H. Wolpoff, paleoanthropologists most closely associated
with the multiregional hypothesis include James Ahern, James Calcagno[2],
Rachel Caspari, David Frayer, Mica Glanz, John Hawks[3], Andrew Kramer, Sang-Hee
Lee, Alan Mann, Janet Monge, Jakov Radovcic, Valeri Alexeev, Karen Rosenberg,
Mary Russell, Lynne Schepartz, Fred Smith, Alan Thorne, Adam Van Arsdale,
Bernard Vandermeersch.
有人認為：多地起源說不是基於客觀的科學研究，而是基於，以灌輸人種間血統純粹性的教育。
但事實上，現代支持這一學說的學者特別是中國學者多無種族主義思想，他們能提出科學的證據（見上面的「現代支持這一理論的證據」），並且更多地是在討論體質特徵、遺傳基因、文化形態有巨大差別的現代人作為一個單一物種究竟是如何產生的，而不是在爭論種族的優劣。
多地起源說支持者宣稱現代是古代的後代。在1997年，DNA測試分析了尼安德塔人的頭骨，指出現代人與尼安德塔人的共同祖先至少是在50~80萬年前的古代猿人；此外，所有的現代人種間的差異均比與尼安德塔人的差異為小，更加說明了現代人與尼安德塔人是不同的物種。
經過的不懈努力，在已經發現了800萬年前的，發現了200萬年前，170萬年前的，115萬年前的，50萬年前的和，30萬年前的和，10萬-20萬年前的、、、、、、，1萬-4萬年前的如、、北京、、、、等等。雖然存在兩個缺環：一個是沒有發現更早的化石和人類近祖化石，另一個是沒有發現距今5-10萬年的化石，但這仍是一個近乎完整的人類進化系統，除了非洲外，中國也是大致上連續不斷的古人類化石發現地，因此，有相當數量的中國家認為現代中國人是獨立起源於中國的。
還有學者對特徵和進行了系統研究後指出，儘管存在外來的和，中國現代形成過程中仍是主流。中國從古人類到的體質特徵是一脈相承的，並未出現被古人類取代從而造成的體質上的改變，（過去稱北京猿人）身上的一些特徵在現代身上仍有反映，現代中國人並沒有出現非洲人的體質特徵。中國的舊石器時代文化、新石器時代文化、原始社會文化等等都是一脈相承，沒有出現斷層或大的改變。這些現象也促使多數中國學者相信中國人自生說。
這一理論與1990年代的基因研究結論相矛盾。
1990年代，中國基因學者陳竺和金力的研究指出現代亞洲人與古代亞洲之間並沒有直接關係存在；現代的中國人是約5萬年前由遷徙而來的人類後代。
這一理論難以解釋：如果中國古人類真的被完全取代，為什麼中國古人類體質及文化特徵上存在連續性而沒有斷層或大的改變？
為了解決這兩種學說的矛盾，一些中國古人類學家如吳新智等提出了「連續進化附帶雜交」的中國人起源模型。此外，的遺傳學家史密斯也提出了一個折中的同化模型，認為從非洲出發的擴張和各人群之間的遺傳交流在人類進化過程中都起過重要作用。
這些人認為：西歐和中國人的起源模式有區別，東南亞、澳洲、美洲的模式及它們與非洲的關係也不盡相同，是完全取代、連續進化還是融合同化，不能用同一種模式概括所有現代人的起源，不同模式在各地人類起源過程中的作用並不相同。
Coon, Carleton S. (1962)
. The Origins of Races. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Bindon, Jim. University
of Alabama. Department of Anthropology. August 23, 2006. &&.
《反談中國歷史》，葉文憲 著，學林出版社，，11-13頁
研究證實：北京猿人並非中國人祖先
《反談中國歷史》，葉文憲 著，學林出版社，，13頁
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A graph detailing the origin of modern humans using the Multiregional
theory of .
the multiregional hypothesis is one of two accounts of the origin of
anatomically modern humans, . The other theory is the
(or Out-of-Africa model). While Out of Africa has
received much support over the last decade, there do remain several prominent
multiregionalists.
Because of the scarcity of
and the discovery of important new finds every few years, researchers disagree
about the details and sometimes even basic elements of . While they have revised this history several times
over the last decades, researchers currently agree that the oldest named
of the genus ,
, evolved in Africa around two million years ago, and that
members of the genus migrated out of Africa somewhat later, at least 1.5
million years ago. The descendants of these ancient migrants, which probably
included , have become known through fossils uncovered far from Africa,
such as those of && and &&.
is also considered a descendant of early migrants.
The multiregional hypothesis for the human species holds that the
throughout the
has been within a single widespread , , in response to the normal forces of :
selection, ,
, and gene flow.
The term &multiregional hypothesis& was first coined in the early
and a group of associates as an explanation for the apparent
similarities of the remains from the
inhabiting the same region. This phenomenon was termed
regional continuity and baffled the scientists at first. These scientists
explained the apparent regional continuity by claiming Homo erectus and Homo
sapiens were the same species and there had been just enough interbreeding to
cause an overall global development towards the latter, but without stamping
out the regional adaptation that had been developed by the former. Such a
delicate balance seemed unlikely and puzzled the .
The Multiregional Hypothesis has its origin in the work of
in the 1930s. At that time, Weidenreich originated the &Weidenreich
Theory of Human Evolution& based on his examination of Peking Man.
Weidenreich was an anatomist and observed numerous anatomical characteristics
that Peking Man had in common with modern .
The Weidenreich Theory stated that human races have evolved independently in
to , while at the same time there was gene flow between the
various populations. According to the theory proposed by Weidenreich, genes
that were generally adaptive (such as those for intelligence) flowed
relatively rapidly from one part of the world to the other, while those that
were locally adaptive, would not. This is the direct opposite to theories of
human evolution that have been popularized in the
with one superior race (e.g. Modern Humans) displacing other races (e.g. ).
A vocal proponent of the Weidenreich theory was .
Eventually, Milford H. Wolpoff proposed an explanation based on
that would allow for the necessary balance. This was the
multiregional hypothesis. It theorizes that Homo erectus, Neanderthals, Homo
sapiens and other humans were a single species. This species arose in Africa
two million years ago as Homo erectus and then spread out over the world,
developing adaptations to regional conditions.
For periods of time some populations became isolated, developing in a
different direction. But through a complicated process involving continuous
interbreeding, replacement,
and other vehicles of ,
adaptations that were an advantage anywhere on earth would spread, keeping the
development of the species in the same overall direction, while maintaining
adaptations to regional factors.
Eventually, the more unusual local varieties of the species would have
disappeared in favor of modern humans while retaining some regional
adaptations, but also with many common features.
Multiregional evolution contrasts with the &.& According to that theory, human
evolution was a consequence of many cases of species replacement, as newer
species replaced older ones across the human range. Modern , according to the RSOH, is the most recent example of species
replacement.
An older theory is Polygenic evolution, a multiple origins theory in which
the different human populations or races had independent origins and evolved
in isolation from each other. Held by many scholars of the
such as Haeckel and Klaatsch, and even some of the 20th, such as , it is biologically impossible since all populations of a species
must have the same, single origin.
is sometimes mistaken for Multiregional evolution, because they are both
hypotheses of evolution within a single species. However, Polygenic evolution
depends on isolation of populations while Multiregional evolution requires
population interactions and interbreeding so that genetic changes can spread
throughout the human range, especially when they are promoted by natural
selection. According to the Multiregional hypothesis, geographic differences
between human populations are the results of , , and historical accidents ().
Studies on past
that can be inferred from molecular data have led
Multiregionalists to conclude that the
is untenable because there are no population size
affecting all genes that are more recent than the one at the beginning of the
species, some 2 million years ago. Multiregionalists claimed that the
discovery of a possible hybrid Homo sapiens X neanderthalensis fossil
child at the
rock-shelter site in Portugal in 1999 further supports the
Multiregional hypothesis, by reflecting the inter-mixture of diverse human
populations. Other archaeologists dispute this: &the analysis by Duarte et
al. of the Lagar Velho child's skeleton is a brave and imaginative
interpretation, of which it is unlikely that a majority of
paleoanthropologists will consider proven.&
Proponents of the multiregional hypothesis point to a recent Australian
study of an ancient Aboriginal skeleton known as . Genetic tests show the mitochondrial DNA of Mungo Man to be from a
with no descendants today. Yet Mungo man is an
and has been dated to be at least 40,000 years old. These
proponents interpret the study to mean that mtDNA does not reflect ancestry or
times, and this interpretation is supported by the discovery that the gene is
subject to .
A recent, non-fossilized discovery of one metre-tall, small-brained (350 ),
, on the Indonesian island of ,
might imply populations of
survived very late, and gave rise to even later, physically
dwarfed isolated &erectus& groups. However, this possibility does
not address the Multiregional hypothesis, which is only about the human
species, and the evidence is marred by the possibility that the single dwarf
cranium found on Flores might have been pathological.
Proponents of the
hypothesis point to the study
and interpret it to give genetic evidence for
inter-breeding between Humans and other hominids.
most closely associated with the multiregional hypothesis include James Ahern,
James Calcagno,
Rachel Caspari, David Frayer, Mica Glanz, John Hawks,
Andrew Kramer, Sang-Hee Lee, Alan Mann, Janet Monge, Jakov Radovcic, Valeri
Alexeev, Karen Rosenberg, Mary Russell, Lynne Schepartz, Fred Smith, Alan
Thorne, Adam Van Arsdale, Bernard Vandermeersch.
&The 'Out of
Africa' replacement theory has always been a big controversy,&
Templeton said. &I set up a null hypothesis and the program rejected
that hypothesis using the new data with a probability level of 10 to the
minus 17th. In science, you don't get any more conclusive than that. It
says that the hypothesis of no interbreeding is so grossly incompatible
with the data, that you can reject it.&
- 'Genomics refutes an exclusively African origin of humans' (pdf) Vinayak
Eswaran, Henry Harpending, Alan R. Rogers, Journal of Human Evolution
- 'Templeton tree'
- 'The Hybrid Child from Portugal'
- J. Hardy and others - Molecular
Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration (Evidence suggesting that Homo
neanderthalensis contributed the H2 MAPT haplotype to Homo sapiens)
- 'Drift and migration' (only 1 migrant per
generation between populations of reasonable big sizes can prevent
divergence in allelic frequencies)
- 'Deep Haplotype Divergence and Long-Range Linkage Disequilibrium at
Xp21.1 Provide Evidence That Humans Descend From a Structured Ancestral
Population' (first genetic evidence that statistically rejects the null
hypothesis that our species descends from a single, historically panmictic
population), Daniel Garrigan, Zahra Mobasher, Sarah B. Kingan, Jason A.
Wilder, and Michael F. Hammer, , Genetics, Vol. 170, , August 2005
- 'The Origin of Modern Humans: Multiregional and Replacement Theories',
Michael Roberts,
- 'Evidence for Archaic Asian Ancestry on the Human X Chromosome'
(suggests ancient RRM2P4 lineage is remnant of introgressive hybrid of
anatomically modern humans from Africa and archaic populations in
Eurasia), Daniel Garrigan, Zahra Mobasher, Tesa Severson, Jason A. Wilder,
Michael F. Hammer, , , vol 22, no 2, p 189-192 (2005)
- 'Possible ancestral structure in human populations',
Vincent Plagnol, Jeff D. Wall, PLoS Genetics, (2006) (evidence for
ancient admixture in both a European and a West African population (p ~ 10-7),
with contributions to the modern gene pool of at least 5%. While
Neanderthals form an obvious archaic source population candidate in
Europe, there is not yet a clear source population candidate in West
- 'Mitochondrial DNA sequences in ancient Australians: Implications for
modern human origins', Gregory J. Adcock, Elizabeth S. Dennis, Simon
Easteal, Gavin A. Huttley, Lars S. Jermiin, W. James Peacock, Alan Thorne,
, Proceedings of the , vol 98, no 2, p 537-542 (January 16, 2001)
- 'Out of Africa vs. Multiregionalism', Tod Billings (December 7, 1999)
- 'The evolution of modern humans: where are we now?' , , vol 7, no 2, p 1-5 (2001)
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